How Much Retirement Income Should Come From Savings?

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans’ personal savings rates are about half of the amount they once were. For the past few years, the personal savings rate has hovered around 5 percent, but that’s still significantly lower than the savings rate from 1950-2000, which averaged 9.8 percent.1

For many retirees, a big concern during retirement is running out of money. So how can you help make your retirement savings last? We help clients create individual financial strategies using insurance and investment products — and the strategy isn’t the same for everyone. For some, it may be maintaining an annual withdrawal rate of between 4 to 5 percent from their investments.2 For others, it might make sense to consider working full-time longer, taking a part-time job during retirement or even repositioning a portion of assets into fixed annuities that can provide income guaranteed by the issuing insurance company.*

However, each of these strategies comes with advantages and drawbacks that could affect long-term financial goals. That’s why we work closely with each client to customize a retirement income strategy based on their specific financial situation.

Fewer retirees have a pension plan to help fund their retirement, which can mean personal savings — ranging from an investment portfolio to IRAs to company 401(k) plans — may now be a primary source for retirement income.

Social Security provides 34 to 40 percent of retirement income for the average retiree,3 and that share is higher for elderly unmarried women; nearly half of this demographic relies on Social Security benefits to provide 90 percent or more of their income.4

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College recently conducted a study to find out just how much Americans may need to rely on 401(k) plans for retirement income. Here are the results:5

Low-income households: 25%

Middle-income households: 32%

High-income homes: 47%

While those are general numbers, it’s important to point out that, overall, women are 80 percent more likely to live in poverty during retirement than men. There’s a big combination of factors that cause this, including lower pay, time out of the workforce for caregiving and the fact that women tend to live longer. Other ancillary variables can make the situation worse, such as divorce, loss of spouse and being forced to retire due to poor health.6

One way individuals are shoring up their savings is by working longer. If you plan to continue working full-time or part-time in retirement, you won’t be alone. As of May 2016, there are approximately 9 million U.S. employees who are 65 and older.7

*All guarantees are based on the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuing insurance company.

Annuities are insurance products that may be subject to fees, surrender charges and holding periods which vary by company. Annuities are not a deposit of nor are they insured by any bank, the FDIC, NCUA, or by any federal government agency. Annuities are designed for retirement or other long-term needs.

This material is intended to provide general information to help you understand basic financial planning strategies and should not be construed as financial advice. All investments are subject to risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values.

The information contained in this material is believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed; it is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions. If you are unable to access any of the news articles and sources through the links provided in this text, please contact us to request a copy of the desired reference.

*Guarantees provided by insurance products are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing carrier.

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